A man living near Hermits Peak shot and killed a black bear after finding it inside his home.The man told officials he was asleep in his room when he heard noises. He then grabbed his rifle and shot the animal around 11 p.m. on July 12. The next day, officials with the New Mexico Game and Fish came out. “What happened? A bear came in and I killed it,” the man told officials. ” Came in, tore the door off my cabinet, broke the window.” Body camera footage shows the man’s kitchen torn apart, with the bear dead on the floor. “In a situation like this, where you’re in immediate danger, you’re trying to protect your own life, somebody else’s life, property, a pet or something like that. Generally, we are not going to charge anybody in those situations,” said Darren Vaughan, the communications director for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Vaughan said bear sightings ramp up this time of year because the bears come down from the mountain in search of food. “If you are camping out in the backcountry, make sure that you keep a very, very clean campsite so that you eliminate the risk of things like that,” said Vaughan. In the body camera footage, the man asked if he could keep the bear. According to the department, they said sometimes they will sell the wild animal but never to anyone involved in the incident. “I gotta have somebody totally unrelated to it because what we would have happen is people would be killing stuff left and right,” said an official on the footage. The department said if you do encounter a bear, try not to panic, don’t run and slowly back away. You can look here for more tips.
A man living near Hermits Peak shot and killed a black bear after finding it inside his home.
The man told officials he was asleep in his room when he heard noises. He then grabbed his rifle and shot the animal around 11 p.m. on July 12. The next day, officials with the New Mexico Game and Fish came out.
“What happened? A bear came in and I killed it,” the man told officials. “[It] Came in, tore the door off my cabinet, broke the window.”
Body camera footage shows the man’s kitchen torn apart, with the bear dead on the floor.
“In a situation like this, where you’re in immediate danger, you’re trying to protect your own life, somebody else’s life, property, a pet or something like that. Generally, we are not going to charge anybody in those situations,” said Darren Vaughan, the communications director for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
Vaughan said bear sightings ramp up this time of year because the bears come down from the mountain in search of food.
“If you are camping out in the backcountry, make sure that you keep a very, very clean campsite so that you eliminate the risk of things like that,” said Vaughan.
In the body camera footage, the man asked if he could keep the bear. According to the department, they said sometimes they will sell the wild animal but never to anyone involved in the incident.
“I gotta have somebody totally unrelated to it because what we would have happen is people would be killing stuff left and right,” said an official on the footage.
The department said if you do encounter a bear, try not to panic, don’t run and slowly back away. You can look here for more tips.
